Joanne Dru
Encyclopedia
Joanne Dru was an American film and television actress, known for such films as Red River and All the King's Men
.
, Dru came to New York City
in 1940 at the age of eighteen. After finding employment as a model
, she was chosen by Al Jolson
to appear in the cast of his Broadway
show Hold Onto Your Hats. When she moved to Hollywood, she found work in the theater. Dru was spotted by a talent scout and made her first film appearance in Abie's Irish Rose
(1946).
Over the next decade, Dru appeared frequently in films and on television. She was cast often in western
films such as Howard Hawks
's Red River (1948), and John Ford
's She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
(1949), and Wagon Master
(1950).
She gave a well-received performance in the dramatic film All the King's Men
(1949) and co-starred with Dan Dailey
in The Pride of St. Louis
(1952) about major-league baseball pitcher Jerome "Dizzy" Dean
.
She appeared in the James Stewart
drama Thunder Bay
in 1953 and then a Martin and Lewis
comedy 3 Ring Circus
(1954). Her film career petered out by the end of the 1950s, but she continued working frequently in television, most notably as "Babs Wooten" on the 1960-61 sitcom
, Guestward, Ho!
.
After Guestward, Ho!, she appeared sporadically for the rest of the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s, with one feature film appearance, in Sylvia
(1965), and eight television appearances.
For her contribution to the television industry, Dru was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
.
, an actor and singer best-known as the original host of the American game show Hollywood Squares
.
Before moving to Hollywood, Dru met and married popular singer Dick Haymes
. The couple had three children together: Richard Ralph Haymes (born July 24, 1942), Helen Joanna Haymes (born May 13, 1944), Barbara Nugent Haymes (born September 19, 1947).
Divorced from Haymes in 1949, Dru married Red River co-star John Ireland
less than a month later. The pair were divorced in 1957. She had no children from her subsequent three marriages.
She died in Los Angeles, California
in 1996, aged 74, from lymphedema
. Her ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean
.
All the King's Men
All the King's Men is a novel by Robert Penn Warren first published in 1946. Its title is drawn from the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty. In 1947 Warren won the Pulitzer Prize for All the King's Men....
.
Career
Born as Joan Letitia LaCock in Logan, West VirginiaLogan, West Virginia
Logan is a city in Logan County, West Virginia, United States, along the Guyandotte River. The population was 1,779 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Logan County.-History:...
, Dru came to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1940 at the age of eighteen. After finding employment as a model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
, she was chosen by Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
to appear in the cast of his Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
show Hold Onto Your Hats. When she moved to Hollywood, she found work in the theater. Dru was spotted by a talent scout and made her first film appearance in Abie's Irish Rose
Abie's Irish Rose
Abie's Irish Rose is a popular comedy by Anne Nichols familiar from stage productions, films and radio programs. The basic premise involves an Irish Catholic girl and a young Jewish man who marry despite the objections of their families.-Theater and films:...
(1946).
Over the next decade, Dru appeared frequently in films and on television. She was cast often in western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
films such as Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era...
's Red River (1948), and John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
's She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is a 1949 Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne. The film was the second of Ford's trilogy of films focusing on the US Cavalry ; the other two films were Fort Apache and Rio Grande...
(1949), and Wagon Master
Wagon Master
Wagon Master is a 1950 Western film directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Joanne Dru, and Ward Bond.-Plot:Learning of their ability as experienced horsemen, Mormon Elder Wiggs , hires Travis Blue and Sandy Owens to guide a small group of Mormons across the West to the...
(1950).
She gave a well-received performance in the dramatic film All the King's Men
All the King's Men (1949 film)
All the King's Men is a 1949 drama film based on the Robert Penn Warren novel of the same name. It was directed by Robert Rossen and starred Broderick Crawford in the role of Willie Stark.-Plot:...
(1949) and co-starred with Dan Dailey
Dan Dailey
Daniel James Dailey Jr. was an American dancer and actor.-Early life and career:Born in New York City on December 14, 1915, to James J. and Helen Dailey, both born in New York City. He appeared in a minstrel show when very young, and appeared in vaudeville before his Broadway debut in 1937 in...
in The Pride of St. Louis
The Pride of St. Louis
The Pride of St. Louis is a 1952 biographical film of the life of Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jerome Herman "Dizzy" Dean. It starred Dan Dailey as Dean, Joanne Dru as his wife, and Richard Crenna as his brother Paul "Daffy" Dean, also a major league pitcher.Guy Trosper was nominated...
(1952) about major-league baseball pitcher Jerome "Dizzy" Dean
Dizzy Dean
Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the last National League pitcher to win 30 games in one season. Dean was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953....
.
She appeared in the James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
drama Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay (film)
Thunder Bay is a 1953 American adventure film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart in their second non-western collaboration.- Plot :...
in 1953 and then a Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis were an American comedy team, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis as the comedic "foil". The pair first met in 1945; their debut as a duo occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24/25, 1946....
comedy 3 Ring Circus
3 Ring Circus
3 Ring Circus is a 1954 film comedy starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. It was shot from February 17 to March 31, 1954 and released on December 25 by Paramount Pictures.The film was the first starring Martin and Lewis to be shot in VistaVision...
(1954). Her film career petered out by the end of the 1950s, but she continued working frequently in television, most notably as "Babs Wooten" on the 1960-61 sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
, Guestward, Ho!
Guestward, Ho!
Guestward, Ho! is a situation comedy which aired on the ABC network in the 1960-1961 television season, based on the 1956 book of the same title by Patrick Dennis, author of Auntie Mame....
.
After Guestward, Ho!, she appeared sporadically for the rest of the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s, with one feature film appearance, in Sylvia
Sylvia (1965 film)
Sylvia is a drama film directed by Gordon Douglas, written by Sydney Boehm and starring George Maharis, Carroll Baker and Peter Lawford.Released by Paramount Pictures, it was filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Plot:...
(1965), and eight television appearances.
For her contribution to the television industry, Dru was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
.
Personal life
She was the elder sister of Peter MarshallPeter Marshall (game show host)
Peter Marshall is an American television and radio personality, singer, and actor.He was the original host of The Hollywood Squares, from 1966 to 1981. He has almost fifty television, movie, and Broadway credits...
, an actor and singer best-known as the original host of the American game show Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares is an American panel game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The "board" for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants...
.
Before moving to Hollywood, Dru met and married popular singer Dick Haymes
Dick Haymes
Richard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
. The couple had three children together: Richard Ralph Haymes (born July 24, 1942), Helen Joanna Haymes (born May 13, 1944), Barbara Nugent Haymes (born September 19, 1947).
Divorced from Haymes in 1949, Dru married Red River co-star John Ireland
John Ireland (actor)
John Benjamin Ireland was an actor and film director.-Biography:Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he was raised in New York City from the age of 18. He started out in minor stage roles on Broadway...
less than a month later. The pair were divorced in 1957. She had no children from her subsequent three marriages.
She died in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in 1996, aged 74, from lymphedema
Lymphedema
Lymphedema , also known as lymphatic obstruction, is a condition of localized fluid retention and tissue swelling caused by a compromised lymphatic system....
. Her ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
.
Selected filmography
- Abie's Irish RoseAbie's Irish RoseAbie's Irish Rose is a popular comedy by Anne Nichols familiar from stage productions, films and radio programs. The basic premise involves an Irish Catholic girl and a young Jewish man who marry despite the objections of their families.-Theater and films:...
(1946) - Red River (1948)
- All the King's MenAll the King's Men (1949 film)All the King's Men is a 1949 drama film based on the Robert Penn Warren novel of the same name. It was directed by Robert Rossen and starred Broderick Crawford in the role of Willie Stark.-Plot:...
(1949) - She Wore a Yellow RibbonShe Wore a Yellow RibbonShe Wore a Yellow Ribbon is a 1949 Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne. The film was the second of Ford's trilogy of films focusing on the US Cavalry ; the other two films were Fort Apache and Rio Grande...
(1949) - Wagon MasterWagon MasterWagon Master is a 1950 Western film directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Joanne Dru, and Ward Bond.-Plot:Learning of their ability as experienced horsemen, Mormon Elder Wiggs , hires Travis Blue and Sandy Owens to guide a small group of Mormons across the West to the...
(1950) - 711 Ocean Drive711 Ocean Drive711 Ocean Drive is an American crime film noir directed by Joseph M. Newman. The drama features Edmond O'Brien, Joanne Dru and Otto Kruger.-Plot:...
(1950) - Vengeance ValleyVengeance ValleyVengeance Valley is a Western film starring Burt Lancaster, based on the novel by Luke Short. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer failed to renew the copyright on this film in 1978, so it is now in the public domain in the United States.-Plot:...
(1951) - Mr. Belvedere Rings the BellMr. Belvedere Rings the BellMr. Belvedere Rings the Bell is a 1951 comedy film, the third and final one starring Clifton Webb as Lynn Belvedere. Mr. Belvedere lies about his age and lives in a senior citizens home to determine if there was any point in growing old...
(1951) - Return of the TexanReturn of the TexanReturn of the Texan is a 1952 western film directed by Delmer Daves. It stars Dale Robertson and Joanne Dru.-Cast:*Dale Robertson as Sam Crockett*Joanne Dru as Ann Marshall*Walter Brennan as Grandpa Firth Crockett*Richard Boone as Rod Murray...
(1952) - The Pride of St. LouisThe Pride of St. LouisThe Pride of St. Louis is a 1952 biographical film of the life of Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jerome Herman "Dizzy" Dean. It starred Dan Dailey as Dean, Joanne Dru as his wife, and Richard Crenna as his brother Paul "Daffy" Dean, also a major league pitcher.Guy Trosper was nominated...
(1952) - My Pal GusMy Pal GusMy Pal Gus is a 1952 comedy-drama film which follows Gus who is the young son of divorced industrialist Dave Jennings . Unable to cope with Gus' mischievous streak, Jennings places the boy in a day-care center. Gus' teacher Lydia Marble manages to curb the boy's prankishness, and along the way...
(1952) - Thunder BayThunder Bay (film)Thunder Bay is a 1953 American adventure film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart in their second non-western collaboration.- Plot :...
(1953) - 3 Ring Circus3 Ring Circus3 Ring Circus is a 1954 film comedy starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. It was shot from February 17 to March 31, 1954 and released on December 25 by Paramount Pictures.The film was the first starring Martin and Lewis to be shot in VistaVision...
(1954) - Southwest PassageSouthwest PassageSouthwest Passage is a 1954 Pathécolor Western film directed by Ray Nazarro and starring Joanne Dru and John Ireland, who are determined to make a unique trek across the west, using camels as his beasts of burden...
(1954) - The Dark AvengerThe Dark AvengerThe Dark Avenger is a 1955 film directed by Henry Levin. The screenplay was written by Daniel P. Ullman and Phil Park who was uncredited. The film starred Errol Flynn, Joanne Dru and Peter Finch...
(1955) - DrangoDrangoDrango is a 1957 American motion picture produced by Jeff Chandler's own production company Earlmar Productions, written and directed by Hall Bartlett, and released by United Artists. Starring Chandler in the title role, the film also features Ronald Howard, Joanne Dru, Julie London and Donald Crisp...
(1957) - Hell on Frisco BayHell on Frisco BayHell on Frisco Bay is a 1955 film starring Alan Ladd and Edward G. Robinson. Directed by Frank Tuttle, The supporting cast includes Joanne Dru, William Demarest, and Fay Wray. It was made for Ladd's own production company, Jaguar....
(1955) - The Light in the ForestThe Light in the Forest (film)The Light in the Forest is a 1958 film based on a novel of the same name first published in 1953 by U.S. author Conrad Richter. The film was produced by Walt Disney Productions and starred Fess Parker, Joanne Dru, James MacArthur and Wendell Corey. Though it is a work of fiction and primarily...
(1958) - The Wild and the InnocentThe Wild and the InnocentThe Wild and the Innocent is a 1959 Western film starring Audie Murphy and Sandra Dee as two inexperienced young people who get into trouble when they visit a town for the very first time.-Cast:*Audie Murphy as Yancy Hawks*Joanne Dru as Marcy Howard...
(1959) - SylviaSylvia (1965 film)Sylvia is a drama film directed by Gordon Douglas, written by Sydney Boehm and starring George Maharis, Carroll Baker and Peter Lawford.Released by Paramount Pictures, it was filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Plot:...
(1965) - Super FuzzSuper FuzzSuper Fuzz or Poliziotto superpiù is an Italian film about Dave Speed, a bumbling Miami police officer who gains super powers through accidental nuclear exposure...
(Poliziotto superpiù) (1980)